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May 27 2025

The Roundup: Royal day. Speaker picked. First #OttawaSpends.

TUE MAY 27 2024
David Akin's Roundup
Royal day. Speaker picked. First #OttawaSpends.
Canada
What King Charles, Queen Camilla did on 1st day of Canada tour
King Charles III and Queen Camilla are now in Canada for their first royal visit to the country since Charles became monarch. Mackenzie Gray looks at what Charles and Camilla were up to during the first day of their brief trip, and the excitement from their supporters.

Liberal MP Francis Scarpaleggia, who has represented the Montreal-area riding of Lac-Saint-Louis since 2004, is the new Speaker of the House of Commons. As David Akin explains, Scarpaleggia is promising to put an end to unparliamentary behaviour — a task that's easier said than done. [Global National]

"We're such an outlier now," said David Perry, president of the Canadian Global Affairs Institute. He said Canada will face a "massive challenge" in meeting the new target. U.S. President Donald Trump has said for months he wants to see NATO countries increase their defence spending to five per cent of GDP. [CP]

« Nous avons plus d’influence sur les prochains travaux du Parlement canadien à 22 qu’on en avait à 33 », a-t-il dit lundi, jour de rentrée parlementaire, après avoir tenu une rencontre avec son caucus. Les bloquistes ne cachent pas, depuis quelques semaines, leur enthousiasme quant au fait que le Bloc sera désormais le seul tiers parti à siéger aux comités permanents de la Chambre. [La Presse]

Interim NDP Leader Don Davies said there are still opportunities for the party to shape legislation despite being reduced to just seven seats in the House of Commons. [Global]

Former prime minister Justin Trudeau made it his practice to answer all questions in the House of Commons on Wednesdays, a gesture he said was meant to improve accountability. [Global]
This is the first spending announcement of the 45th Parliament. There will be more. Many more. During the four-year-long 44th Parliament, cabinet ministers and government MPs made 22,325 spending announcements. The combined federal funding commitment for those projects totalled just over $115.3 billion. Each and every spending announcement was posted on a special X account: OttawaSpends. (Apologies for pointing you to X but, until federal government departments move off this platform, this is likely where this database will stay.) I've been tracking each and every spending announcement through four Parliaments - and posting every one on that X account. So here we go with the 45th Parliament - the fifth to get the OttawaSpends treatment. - DA
Since March, 2009 whenever a spending announcement is made, I’ve been tracking key details from each spending announcement in a database I maintain. I use that database from time to time to  pull summary information about spending announcement patterns. A post from 2017 explaining how #OttawaSpends works.  [Global]
Gerald Butts and David Lametti hold no official roles in the Liberal government, but Prime Minister Mark Carney informally seeks their advice on key political matters, say Liberal sources. [Hill Times]
Meet Canada’s newest Senate appointees: senators Baltej S. Dhillon, Katherine Hay, Martine Hébert, Danièle Henkel, Tony Ince, Sandra Pupatello, Allister W. Surette, and Duncan Wilson. [Senate of Canada]
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The Provinces
Alberta changing rules to ensure ‘age appropriate’ books in schools
“I want to be clear right from the onset — this is not a question of banning specific books or specific titles but rather establishing clear policies and guidelines for all school divisions to follow.” [Minister] said the government doesn’t have the authority to ban books from schools. [Global]

Voters in Edmonton-Strathcona, Edmonton-Ellerslie, and Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills will held to the polls in just under a month's time. [Edmonton Journal]

NDP house leader Nahanni Fontaine asked the Tories to agree to pass the bill immediately -- a move that would bypass public hearings that are normally mandatory for all non-budget bills. [CP]
Aurora
Elsewhere
Trump’s China Tariffs Are Having a ‘Massive Impact’ on Small Business
A small Vermont business that sells water bottles used by cyclists and others is struggling to adapt to President Trump’s tariffs even after they were temporarily lowered. [NYT] (🎁 link)
Science and Technology
Canada achieved measles elimination status in 1998. Now, it could lose it
As Canada’s measles outbreak continues to grow, the country is at risk of losing its measles elimination status — a bar set by the World Health Organization. That could have implications for the entire region of the Americas.[CBC]
The Calendar
  • 1100 : Senate of Canada, - King Charles III opens the 45th Parliament of Canada by delivering the Speech from the Throne.
  • 1155 : National War Memorial - PM Carney and Their Majesties King Charles III and Queen Camilla participate in a wreath-laying.
  • 1240 : Ottawa, - Cdn Culture and Identity Min Steven Guilbeault attends the departure from Canada of Their Majesties King Charles III and Queen Camilla
Issued this day ...
… in 2002: Sc 1944. Universities: Saint Mary’s University. Design: Steven Slipp. Issued to mark the 200th anniversary of Saint Mary’s of Halifax.

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